The disclosed subject matter relates to the field of lighting for the 360/VR video/photography production market; professional and consumer. Also has application in general room lighting and general photography lighting.
Typical to 360 video/photo production, a 360 degree camera can see in all directions. The viewer of 360 content can look around all angles and viewpoints. It is a camera that sees everything in view, and has no blind spots in which one would typically consider “behind the scene.” The current production techniques to light scenes for 360 video is to use existing ambient lighting, hide or camouflage lights from camera view, or simply allow production lights to be visible in the scene. The problem with lighting for 360 cameras is that they see everything in a scene. You cannot place any production instruments (lighting, etc) in a way that they will not be seen by the camera, without great effort to “hide” them. Seeing the lighting instruments distracts from the scene, and can cause issues such as lens flare and blooming.
There is a need for an improved lighting instrument that adequately lights the scene without being seen by the camera or causing lens flare or blooming issues as summarized, discussed in detail, and claimed in the following text and accompanying illustrations.